ok. [ voice of dennis ] silence. are you in good hands? ♪ [ male announcer ] let's take every drop of courage, every ounce of inspiration, every bit of determination, and go where we've never gone before. ♪ introducing the radically new avalon. toyota. let's go places. personal story segment tonight, how does president obama rank among american presidents. author of the best selling book thomas jefferson the art of power john meacham. i want to get to the woodward question that he didn't really answer. reagan, obama, less than 30 years, what's happened in america? >> i think, you know, f.d.r. once said that great presidents become great because they come to power at a moment when ideas in the life of the nation require clarification. and they offer that clarification. ronald reagan's rise was an answer to the excesses of the new deal and the great society. he has a man who brought the conversation from the first point being what can the state do to being what the market can do? i think what's happened in the last 30 years and what's ha